Peter Nemeth (politician)

Peter J. Nemeth is an American politician and judge who served as the 28th mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

Peter Nemeth
28th Mayor of South Bend
In office
1976–1980
Preceded byJerry Miller[1]
Succeeded byRoger Parent
Personal details
Born1941 or 1942[2][3]
Political partyDemocratic

Early life

Nemeth graduated from St. Joseph's High School in South Bend in 1959.[4]

City councilman

Nemeth served as a member of the South Bend Common Council.[2]

Mayoralty

Nemeth was first elected mayor of South Bend in 1975.

In 1977, Century Center was opened. In the summer of 1977, Nemeth was able to secure $528,000 in Economic Development Administration funds for the construction of a lighted parking lot near Century Center and improvements to nearby Island Park.[5]

Among the projects Nemeth championed was the East Race Waterway, which was later funded and constructed during his successor Roger Parent's tenure.[6]

Along with others, Nemeth fought to prevent the ceasing of South Shore Line passenger service when Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was looking at ending the service.[7]

In 1979, the city sold-off its Union Station.[8]

Nemeth did not seek reelection in 1979,[9] and was succeeded as mayor by Roger Parent.

Deputy prosecutor

Nemeth served as a deputy prosecutor.[3]

Judicial career

For twenty years, from 1993 until 2013, Nemeth served as a judge on the St. Joseph Probate Court.[10]

Nemeth had been appointed to the judgeship in 1993 by governor Evan Bayh to fill out Nemeth's father's term.[3]

Nemeth played a role in the establishment of St. Joseph County's Juvenile Justice Center.[2]

In 2007 a court-ordered audit of the Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility found numerous deficiencies and rated it as "not satisfactory" or "needs improvement" in 13 of 27 areas reviewed. On December 17, 2007, Nemeth informed governor Mitch Daniels that he would refuse to send female juvenile offenders to the facility, declaring it understaffed and that it was "neither safe nor productive" to send girls to this facility.[11]

In early 2012, Nemeth announced he would forgo seeking reelection to another term as a judge.[2][12] Jim Fox was elected to succeed him in the judgeship.[3]

In December 2012, a month before his retirement as a judge, Nemeth agreed to a sanction from the Judicial Qualifications Commission.[10] In August 2012, the Judicial Qualifications Commission had filed a misconduct charge against him, alleging that he violated the code of judicial conduct in a 2911 guardianship hearing when he suggested that it was inappropriate for taxpayers to pay for a sign language interpreter for a woman seeking custody of a deaf tennage because she, "hadn't paid taxes for several years".[10]

References
  1. "List of South Bend Mayors".
  2. "Probate Judge Nemeth hanging up the robe". WNDU-TV. January 24, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  3. Black, Virginia (January 25, 2013). "Judge Nemeth gives his parting words". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  4. "Members of the South Bend Community Hall of Fame Recognized at All–School Mass". St. Joseph High School. April 11, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  5. Jobs Through Economic Development, Volume 46. U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration. 1979. p. 6. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  6. Blasko, Erin (July 19, 2013). "East Race Waterway celebrates 30 years". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  7. Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Reports and Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States, Volume 354. United States Congress. 1977. p. 354. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  8. Author Interviews. "A Company Town Reinvents Itself In South Bend, Ind". NPR. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  9. https://pharostrib.newspaperarchive.com/logansport-pharos-tribune/1979-05-09/
  10. "N. Ind. judge sanctioned before retirement". WNDU-TV. The Associated Press. January 6, 2013. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  11. "Indiana Judge Refuses to Send Juveniles to Unsafe Facility". Prison Legal News. October 15, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  12. "Probate judge chooses to retire instead of running for re-election". ABC57. WBND-LD. May 1, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
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